Starmer has ‘full confidence’ in Morgan McSweeney, No 10 says amid calls for his sacking – UK politics live | Politics

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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has described Keir Starmer’s apology as “weak” and “not quite believable”.

Speaking on the campaign trail in the Gorton and Denton by-election, he said:

I mean, all the evidence that we’ve seen over the course of the last 24 hours, indicates he was briefed, he knew that not only had Peter Mandelson maintained a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after his prison sentence for under age prostitution, he knew that actually he’d stayed with him.

So there was a lot of stuff that was known about the depth of that relationship.

And the prime minister trying to pretend all the way through he doesn’t really know Peter Mandelson, he didn’t really understand what relationship was. So it’s a very weak, late apology, not believable and not helping his position one little bit.

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Updated at 10.49 EST

Anas Sarwar, the Scottich Labour leader, has come out in support of the prime minister, saying Starmer should keep his job but that he should never have considered Mandelson for the US ambassador role.

Sarwar described Mandelson as “a shame to our nation”. He had previously referred to Mandelson as an “old friend” when he was given the top diplomatic job in Washington last year.

When asked by reporters on Thursday whether Starmer can stay in his post until the Holyrood election in May, Sarwar replied: “Yes.”

On Mandelson, he said:

People will be absolutely furious.

Peter Mandelson has betrayed his country, he has betrayed the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, he has betrayed this country, and he has betrayed the party he once belonged to, and he should feel the full force of the law.

It is abundantly clear Peter Mandelson was not fit to be ambassador the US, he should not even have been considered for the job.

It’s an utter disgrace and he is a shame to our nation.

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Starmer has ‘full confidence’ in McSweeney – No 10

Keir Starmer has full confidence in his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, Downing Street has said.

There have been calls by backbenchers for the sacking of McSweeney, whom many blame for his ally Peter Mandelson’s appointment to the ambassadorship.

Asked if the prime minister agreed with calls for his chief of staff to be sacked, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said:

It’s full confidence.

It comes as Downing Street said it was talking with the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) about the process of releasing documents related to Mandelson’s appointment.

The spokesperson said:

We have begun discussions with the ISC about the process for releasing these documents. When we’ve agreed a process with the ISC, the government will then update the house.

The government will take steps to ensure that document release does not compromise the Met’s investigation.

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Palace of Westminster restoration could cost almost £40bn, MPs and peers hear

The restoration of the Palace of Westminster could cost up to £40bn, MPs and peers have been told this afternoon.

The restoration and renewal client board has put forward two options: one for a ‘full decant’, which would see both houses move out of the building while works take place and another where the palace would be worked on in stages.

The full decant would last 19 to 24 years and cost up to £15.6bn, while the other option would take 38 to 61 years and cost up to £39.2bn, with both figures including inflation.

MPs and peers have also been asked to agree to initial restoration works at the Houses of Parliament lasting seven years, at a cost of up to £3bn.

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Updated at 09.49 EST

Labour pressure group Mainstream has called for a “total overhaul of personnel” in Downing Street amid the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal.

The group’s interim council, which includes MP Alex Sobel, said his appointment was “the direct result of a corrosive political culture that must be torn out by its roots”.

They added:

A failure of this magnitude does not happen by accident. It requires a system that elevates factional loyalty over integrity, that values connections over character and that treats rigorous vetting as an inconvenience.

Everyone who participated in this process – from those who championed the appointment, to those who turned a blind eye, to those who silenced doubts in the name of political convenience – must be held to account.

Criticising a “politics of deference and backroom patronage”, they called for an end to “a culture that fears internal challenge”.

They said:

While this is a systemic failure, those who designed and operated the system cannot evade consequence. True accountability means a total overhaul of personnel, of process and of the rotten priorities that brought us here. We will not settle for less.

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Rob Davies

Mandelson sought Epstein’s help in hunt for lucrative roles at Glencore and BP

Peter Mandelson began seeking advice from the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on how to land “highly paid” senior roles with companies including BP and Glencore within days of Labour’s 2010 electoral defeat, emails show.

A flurry of messages, sent in the weeks and months following the collapse of the New Labour project, reveal how Epstein mentored Mandelson as the former cabinet minister touted himself for lucrative jobs at global businesses.

The emails, released by the US justice department among 3m pages of files on Epstein, lay bare the money-spinning opportunities available to departing ministers.

Read more on this story here:

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The PA news agency has reported comments by Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, who said he was “shocked” by the details of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, including claims that he sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender while serving as business secretary.

“A year ago I had to give evidence in a legal case around this issue – it was my duty,” he said.

“I was having to push back on the lies we were being told consistently.

“I am shocked by what we heard at that time about the financial crisis period.

“We have to remember that the most important thing is the victims in all of this.”

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Lib Dems call for no confidence vote in Starmer

Keir Starmer should face a no confidence vote, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has said in response to the controversy surrounding Peter Mandelson.

The Liberal Democrats leader said:

The British people can’t afford for this Labour soap opera to drag on for months or even years, like the Conservative Party did with Boris Johnson. We need a government totally focused on ending the cost-of-living crisis, fixing the NHS and care, and getting our economy growing again.

Keir Starmer should say ‘put up or shut up’. Let’s have a confidence vote now to see whether Labour MPs have any confidence in the prime minister, so the government can get past this one way or the other and start focusing on the change our country needs.

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Reputation of Labour government ‘in tatters’ over Mandelson – Swinney

The reputation of Keir Starmer’s government is “in tatters” after the latest revelations about Peter Mandelson, according to Scottish first minister John Swinney.

Speaking to the PA news agency on Thursday, the SNP’s Swinney criticised Starmer for how the prime minister had dealt with the scandal.

“The prime minister has been shown to have demonstrated the most appalling lack of judgment in the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States,” he said.

He added:

The relationship between Mandelson and Epstein “should have been a red flag at the time.

I think that demonstrates a most shocking and appalling poor judgment by the prime minister and, as a consequence of that, I think the reputation of the Labour government is in tatters.

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A Labour MP has said the party should stick to its promise not to “perpetuate” Tory sleaze amid anger over the Mandelson scandal.

Stroud MP Simon Opher said that “the poor decision making of those around the prime minister is dominating the news agenda” and not achievements on the cost of living crisis, healthcare an education.

In a statement, Opher said:

Instead the government is rightly being held to account for reintroducing someone to high public office who should never have been there.

We were elected to deliver a Labour manifesto that was all about improving people’s lives. We promised to put trust back into politics after years of Tory sleaze – not perpetuate it. The publication of the correspondence around the appointment of Mandelson should obviously be as open as possible.

I’m glad the government have now agreed to an independent body to oversee the release of the correspondence. This is something I have been lobbying for heavily today – but we can, and must, be better than this.

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Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has said that Peter Mandelson’s actions were “completely unforgivable” and that it is right a police investigation has been launched.

She told MPs:

I withdrew Peter Mandelson from his role as ambassador to the United States. That was less than a week after being appointed as Foreign Secretary, and I’m clear that his actions were completely unforgivable.

And given that the heart of what Epstein did was the grave abuse and trafficking of women and girls, that makes this particularly disturbing.

And I would say something else as well, that I was the chief secretary (to the Treasury) at the height of the financial crisis, when what I saw was everybody busting a gut to rescue the savings and the livelihoods of ordinary people across this country, and the idea that a senior and experienced cabinet minister alongside us could instead be behaving the way that we have seen is truly shocking, and it is right that a police investigation is under way.

Her comments came after giving a statement on the war in Sudan, in which she talked about the sexual violence inflicted on women and children caught up in that conflict.

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Kitty Donaldson, of The i Paper, is asking whether it would make any difference if Starmer was to sack Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.

Badenoch says it would help “to some extent” and that the scandal is so serious that someone should to take responsibility for it.

She is asked whether there is anyone in the cabinet she admires as a follow-up question, to which Badenoch says:

Is there anyone in the cabinet that I admire..? No.

Some of them are better than others. I think that Shabana Mahmood is someone who shows she is better than her colleagues, I doubt they will ever let her have a go but I think she is at least honest about the problems the country is facing and doesn’t pander.

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Updated at 08.07 EST

Labour ‘are in office, but not in power’, says Badenoch

Asked if she is “absolutely confident” there are no connections between senior Conservatives and Jeffrey Epstein, Badenoch says her name is not in the files and nor are any of her shadow cabinet “as far as I’m aware”.

She jokes:

I think we’re good, I think we’re good.

The Daily Express tees her up for her next response by asking whether the public should be more concerned over Mandelson’s appointment or Starmer’s lack of authority.

Badenoch says:

I think it’s both. That’s why I’m making that offer to Labour MPs: those of you that think this is untenable and many of them do, I saw their faces at prime minister’s questions.

They looked sick as they were listening to him confess that he always knew, they know that there is a problem.

As salacious as all these details may be … they are in office, but not in power.

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Kemi Badenoch is asked about the prospect of Keir Starmer being ousted by his MPs and being replaced by the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

She responds in a bullish manner, quipping:

I’m not worried about Angela Rayner. I think I can deal with Angela Rayner.

Badenoch says it doesn’t matter who they pick as their next leader “because they will still be a Labour person”.

She says British people ought to be put at the “forefront of their minds” and that the country “is not crying out for socialism”.

Asked about whether political appointments to ambassadorial roles should be scrapped, Badenoch says some political appointments can work, “just don’t pick the best friend of a convicted paedophile who is still hanging out with afterwards”.

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Badenoch says that she does not believe there will be a general election until 2029 but that Labour MPs have an opportunity to “do better’”.

She says:

Britain is not being governed, that is what this speech is about. We need a better government.

Labour was voted in with a huge majority, they have a majority of about 160 but they can’t get anything done. Something is wrong.

She adds:

If an general election is on the cards, we will take it because we know we would do a better job.

Badenoch says “this is about people’s lives” and that she is very worried about the “nonsensical legislation” going through the house.

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Asked by GB News whether Starmer’s apology earlier this morning would “cut it”, Badenoch says “not in the slightest”.

She says she forced the prime minister to “make a confession yesterday and he is backtracking now because he is a coward”.

The Tory leader adds:

The fact is he saw security vetting that every single person in this room would have realised made Mandelson unsuitable but he went ahead and appointed him because he thought he was being clever.

We all saw that press conference where they were calling him ‘our Peter’, ‘to us, he’s just Peter’.

They thought they could get away with it and now it’s all come out.

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Badenoch: Starmer ‘ignored security advice’ over Mandelson appointment

And now it is the turn of Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to give a press conference. She is speaking in central London.

Of course, she opens up with an attack on the prime minister for his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal.

She says:

What he should apologise for is ignoring security advice and vetting that showed him Mandelson should never have been appointed in the first place.

But, ladies and gentlemen, you will notice he cannot bring himself to do that because his self-righteousness is his greatest weakness.

Badenoch turns her ire on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK next, mocking his unveiling of a new Welsh leader “after the last one was sent to prison in November for taking bribes from Russia”.

She says a Reform government would mean more drama and incompetence.

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Updated at 07.22 EST